Safety guard hammer and the like



Oct. 16, 1951 M. BRACCIO SAFETY GUARD HAMMER AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 31, 1948 Patented Oct. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY GUARD HAMMER AND THE LIKE Michael Braccio, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to William Langbein, Emil Langbein, and Charles Langbein, a partnership doing business as Wm. Langbein & Bros., New York, N. Y.

Application January 31, 1948, Serial No. 5,650

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to safety guards, and more particularly to safety guards for drop hammers, presses, and. similar machines.

Heretofore, machines of the foregoing type have been equipped with safety guards which usually were associated with the hammer releasing mechanism or the press operating mechanism in such a manner that the machines would not operate unless the safety guards were in a position to prevent the operator from placing his hands or other parts of his body between the work and the descending hammer or press. Such safety guards required means for either electrically, mechanically, or hydraulically connecting the same with the hammer releasing mechanism or press operating mechanism, and in some instances such means complicated the construction of otherwise simple machines. Also, in some instances, the construction and. arrangement of these means were such that the machine might be operated without the safety guard being in its proper safe guarding position. Further, because of the vibrations produced by the hammer in heavy machines, the component parts supporting the safety guard often became loose with the result that the guard was rendered ineffective.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety guard for machines of the foregoin type which overcomes the aforementioned difficulties and objections.

Another object is to provide a safety guard operatively associated with a drop hammer, press or the like in such a manner that the hammer or press actuates the safety guard upon descending to force the hands or other parts of the operators body out of the path of the descending hammer or press.

Still another object is to provide a safety guard of theforegoing character which is simple and economical in construction and reliable in operation.

A further object consists in the combination and arrangement of elements of the safety guard and the press whereby the foregoing objects are accomplished.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to, one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by pivotally mounting the safety guard on the frame of the machine with a portion of the guard normally positioned in the path of the hammer Or the like when the latter is in its upper position, whereby the safety guard is adapted to be rocked or rotatively moved into its safeguarding position when the hammer descends. A spring or other resilient means is utilized to normally urge the guard into position for engagement by the descending hammer and a suitable stop retains the guard in such a position in predetermined relationship with the hammer.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a drop ham-mer having a safety guard in accordance with the present invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the ma- 7 chine shown in Figure 1, with the safety guard shown in its safe-guarding position in full lines and shown in its normal position while the hammer is in its upper position in broken lines.

Referring to the drawing in detail, there is shown a drop hammer, which by way of example may be of the type manufactured by The Billings & Spencer Co. of Hartford, Conn. Since such presses are well known to those skilled in the art, it is necessary only to describe the essential parts thereof and such parts which may lead to a better understanding of the present invention.

The drop hammer generally comprises a bed in for supporting a work holder or anvil ll, vertical-ly spaced apart side frames, or guides [2, a hammer l4 slidably mounted for up and down movement between the guides, a tool 15 carried by the hammer, and conventional mechanism, generally indicated by the reference numeral l6, for raising the hammer and releasing the same to permit it to descend under the influence of gravity and cause the tool to strike the work piece.

Each of the side frames l2 has a bracket formed with a horizontal bearing I'I secured to the front thereof as shown, above the middle of the frame, that is, about two-thirds the height of the frame. A horizontal shaft [9 is supported by the bearings IT for rotative movement therein, and a safety guard 20 is mounted on the shaft for pivotal or rotative movement therewith, as about to be described.

The safety guard comprises a pair of spaced apart side members or portions 2 I, preferably of solid rod material, each joined and secured at their upper ends to the shaft IQ for movement therewith, forwardly extending portions 22 at the lower end of the side portions 2|, a horizontal front portion 24 joining the forward ends of the portions 22, and a guard screen 25 or the like between the portions 22. The screen 25, as viewed in Fig. 1, sloping downwardly from the front portion 24 assists the portion 24 in brushing the operators hand away during descent of the hammer and also serves as a cross brace for the lower, rear part of the guard 20 by interconnecting the lower ends'of said portions 2| and the intermediate and rear parts of the portions 22. The guard, as just described, is. in the form of an integral casting as shown, but if desired may be constructed of separate members integrally secured together.

The side members or portions 2|, if made of a single casting, preferably have a recessed or slotted interior 2!; to reduce the'weight and inertia of the guard, and are curved at their back edges 21 to extend slightly rearwardly to facilitate engagement by the hammer, as described hereinafter, when the guard is in its rearward or normal position. The guard and hammer are so constructed and arranged that the hammer, when at rest in its raised position, is just above the curved edge 21 when the guard is in it aforementioned position.

One end of the shaft l9 extends through one of the bearings I1 and has an arm 29 rigidly secured thereto; and a cylindrical spring 30 for urging the guard into its normal or rearward position has one end thereof attached to the free end of the arm 29 and has its other end attached to the frame of the machine by a pin or stud 3| A stop 32 on one of the side frames is adapted to be engaged by one of the side portions 2| of the guard to retain the guard in a predetermined rearward position.

In operation of the machine when the hammer M has been raised and is retained in its upper position, the spring 30, acting through the arm 29 and the shaft l9 moves the safety guard rearwardly to its normal position with the back edge of one of the side portions 2| engaging the stop 32, as shown in broken lines in Figure 2. The curved back edges 21 of the side portions 2| are then just below and in the path of the hammer.

With the guard in this position the anvil or bed II is accessible for placing the work piece thereon or removing it therefrom. After the work piece has been properly placed, the operator operates the mechanism (not shown) for releasing the hammer to permit it to descend and perform the desired operation on'the work piece. Immediately upon downward movement of the hammer the back edges 21 of the guard are engaged thereby. so that as the hammer continues its downward movement along the back edges of the guard, it sweeps the guard into its forward or safeguarding position. In accomplishing the latter, the guard upon forward movement thereof" sweeps the operators hands or other partsof the body out of the path of the descend ing hammer, whereby the operator is prevente from being injured by the hammer. 1

After the desired operation has been performed on the work piece, the hammer is again raised 4 by the mechanism IE to its upper position and the guard is again retracted rearwardly to its normal position under the influence of the spring. From the foregoing description it will be read ily seen that the present invention provides a simple, practical safety guard, impervious to vibration, which is operated directly by the descending hammer or the like. The guard comprises a minimum number of parts to make its construction economical and by reasons of its construction is readily adapted to be applied to many types of machines of the type mentioned hereinbefore. The guard is rugged in construction and can readily withstand such rough usage to which it normally may be subjected.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

- I claim:

1. A safety guard for a drop hammer machine comprising, in combination, a shaft rotatably carried at the front of saidmachine; a pair of spaced apart, arcuate side members rigidly carried by said shaft and adapted to travel between uprights of said machine and in the path of said drop hammer, each of said members being curved from front to back and engageable by the drop hammer during movement of the latter; an arm ridigly secured to one end of said shaft; a resilient element interposed between said arm and one of said uprights for biasing said side members in the path of said hammer while the hammer is in, the raised position; and means for interconnecting the lower endslof said side members, said means comprising a side element fixedly attached at an acute angle to each of said side members and projecting forwardly, a horizontal front element fixedly attachedto the free ends of said side elements, and a guard screen interposed between said side and horizontal elements.

2. A safety guard in accordance with claim 1 in which said side members and means are constituted as an integral unit.

3. A safety guard in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said side members comprises a pair of spaced elements substantially parallel with respect to each other.

MICHAEL BRACCIO.

REFERENCES CI TED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name 1,046.840 Murphy Dec. 10, 1912 1,153,603 Chapleau Sept. 14, 1915 1,157,247 Morrison Oct. 19, 1915 1,265,019. Yeo et a1 May 7, 1918 1,370.369 Scofield Mar. 1, 1921 1,736,708 Lane Nov. 19, 1929 2,324,806 Wachs July 20, 1943 2,381,237 Wells Aug. 7, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number 1 Country I Date- 216,267 Great Britain May 29, 1924 

